Who influenced Lenin's beliefs?

Answer 1

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Nikolai Chernyevksy and Georgii Plekhanov also greatly influenced Lenin's revolutionary beliefs.

Chernyevsky wrote the revolutionary novel, "What Is To Be Done" in 1862. Lenin was so influenced by this novel that he gave his own revolutionary pamphlet the same name. He even styled himself along the lines of the hero of the book, a man named Rakhmetev. One author of Russian history stated that Lenin read this novel five times in one summer.

Plekhanov wrote a book called "On the Question of Developing a Monistic View of History" in 1895. This is the book that brought Marxism to Russia. For this reason, Plekhanov is often referred to as the founder of Russian Marxism.

Answer 2

Lenin distorted Marx’s views, so he wasn’t really influenced by him.

Answer 3

Karl Marx had the greatest influence on Lenin. Lenin did not adopt all of Marx's ideas but he was a dedicated Marxist.

Answer 4

The immediate influence was his brother; the ultimate influence was Karl Marx.